Earthquake: An earthquake has hit Taiwan, killing at least nine people and injuring at least nine hundred. More than 100 buildings were destroyed. The earthquake was measured at 7.8 on the Richter scale. It was Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in a quarter-century. There have been numerous aftershocks, some as strong as 7 on the Richter scale. The strongest earthquake ever measured on the Richter scale was an 8.9 in Chile in 1960.
Storms: Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia were hit by storms overnight and into this morning that spawned tornadoes, causing damage to numerous homes and businesses. Fairland West Elementary School in Proctorville, Ohio, which was closed for Easter break, was destroyed by a tornado. More than 35 million people are in areas threatened by severe weather today. Â
Trump lawsuit: Donald Trump’s Trump Media is suing two of the people who enabled it make a public stock offering that has put billions in paper profits into Donald Trump’s pockets. Trump Media filed a lawsuit in Florida against Wesley Moss and Andrew Litinsky, co-founders of Trump Media & Technology Group. Moss and Litinsky in February sued the company in a dispute over how much stock they were entitled to. At one time both of them were contestants on the TV program that featured Trump, “The Apprentice.”
Smith files a brief: Special Counsel Jack Smith last night filed a brief in the case involving Donald Trump’s possession of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago home. Smith accused the presiding judge in the case, Trump appointee Aileen Cannon, of having a fundamentally flawed understanding of the case and taking actions that have no basis in law or fact. Smith filed a brief as ordered by the judge in response to her proposed jury instructions that would tell the jury that they could not find Trump guilty because he had complete authority to take whatever he wanted when he left the White House. Trump’s attorneys asked Judge Cannon to dismiss all charges.
Israel demonstrations: In a third straight day of demonstrations in Jerusalem, protestors outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home fought with police while trying to break through barriers. Tens of thousands of protestors have taken to the streets to demand the ouster of Netanyahu and new elections. Israel says it has begun an independent investigation into how its military mistakenly attacked three clearly marked vehicles carrying volunteers from the World Central Kitchen who were bringing food to refugees in Gaza. Seven people in the vehicles were killed.
Ukraine’s draft: A new law went into effect in Ukraine today that lowers the age of men who can be drafted into the military to 25. It had been set at 27. The move was necessary to build up the ranks of Ukrainian forces engaged in fighting the Russians. Ukraine’s legislature had passed the measure a few months ago but Ukrainian President Zelenskyy did not sign it into law until yesterday. He did not explain why he waited to put the younger draft age into effect.
