Trump Faces Day of Financial Reckoning on Monday

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who fashioned his political persona as a successful billionaire real estate magnate, is facing a day of financial reckoning on Monday that may show he is not as flush with cash as he has led the American public to believe.

Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee in the November national election, is facing a deadline to put up $454 million in cash or a bond backed by collateral from his assets. That way, he could appeal a judgment last month equaling the amount of civil fraud he committed for years by inflating the value of his holdings to get better terms on business transactions.

If he can’t come up with the cash or a bond, New York State Attorney General Letitia James appears poised to start the lengthy process of seizing some of Trump’s prominent office skyscrapers in New York City, perhaps a large estate and baronial mansion he owns outside the city, cash and stock accounts, and even his personal jet, which he calls Trump Force One.

Trump’s lawyers have said securing the bond would be a “practical impossibility” because he would need to pledge about $550 million in cash and liquid investments to the bond company to proceed with the appeal. They said 30 bond companies turned down Trump’s request to provide the cash so that he could proceed with his appeal.

In a post on his Truth Social platform last week, Trump said that he has almost $500 million in cash that he intended to use for his campaign and that James “wants to take it away from him.”

Putin Declares ‘Day of Mourning’ After Concert Hall Terror Attack

Russia observed a day of mourning Sunday, two days after a deadly attack at a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed more than 137 people, including three children, and injured over 180.

Rescue teams continue to scour the scorched building for survivors as some families still agonize over the fate of their loved ones. Russia’s health ministry said hundreds of people stood in line in Moscow to donate blood and plasma.

The attack Friday was the deadliest on Russian soil since the 2004 Beslan school siege, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, hostage.

Four armed men walked toward the metal detectors at Crocus City Hall Friday— a 6,200-seat concert hall outside Moscow — firing their automatic weapons point-blank in short bursts at terrified civilians who fell screaming in a hail of bullets, according to witnesses.

Chad Interim President Deby, PM Cleared for Presidential Election

Chad’s Constitutional Council on Sunday cleared 10 candidates for this year’s longawaited presidential election, including interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby and the country’s recently-appointed prime minister.

The central African nation is scheduled to hold the first round of a presidential election in May as part of a transition back to democracy from junta rule.

Deby initially promised an 18-month transition to elections after he seized power in 2021 when his long-ruling father was killed in clashes with rebels.

However, his government later adopted resolutions postponing elections until 2024 and allowing him to run for president, triggering protests violently quelled by security forces.

In December, Chadians voted in favour of a new constitution that critics said could help cement Deby’s grip on power as it allowed him to run for the presidency.

Deby confirmed his intention to run earlier this month.

The candidate list released on Sunday included opposition leader Succes Masra, appointed prime minister of the transitional government in January.

It is the first time in Chad’s history that a president and a prime minister will face each other in a presidential poll.

A staunch opponent of Chad’s junta, Masra had fled the country after dozens were killed when security forces cracked down on demonstrations in the capital, N’Djamena, in October 2022.

The first round of voting is scheduled for May 6, and the second round is slated for June 22, with provisional results due on July 7.

Poland Demands Russian Explanation for Missile Breach

Poland said Sunday it would demand that Russia explain “a new violation of airspace” after a Russian missile breached the NATO country’s airspace by about two kilometres Sunday morning before returning to Ukraine, according to a spokesperson for the Polish army.

“Polish airspace was breached by one of the cruise missiles fired in the night by the air forces... of the Russian Federation,” the army said on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding, “The object flew through Polish airspace above the village of Oserdow (Lublin province) and stayed for 39 seconds.”

“Above all, we ask the Russian Federation to end its terrorist airstrikes against the population and territory of Ukraine, to end the war and to focus on the country’s own internal problems,” foreign ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski said, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said Russia launched a third large-scale missile attack on the country in the last four days, the second to target Kyiv. The Associated Press reported an air alert in Kyiv lasted over two hours.

China Blocks Using Intel, AMD Chips in Government Computers: Report

China has introduced guidelines to phase out the use of U.S. microprocessors from Intel and AMD in government personal computers and servers, the Financial Times reported Sunday.

The report said that the procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favour of domestic options.

The newspaper said government agencies above the township level have been told to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems in purchases.

Reuters checks showed that China’s industry ministry issued a statement in late December with three separate lists of CPUs, operating systems, and centralised databases deemed “safe and reliable” for three years after the publication date, all from Chinese companies.

The State Council Information Office, which handles media queries for the council, China’s Cabinet, did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

Intel and AMD did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment either.

The U.S. has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor output and reduce reliance on China and Taiwan with the Biden administration’s 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.

It is designed to bolster U.S. semiconductors and includes financial aid for domestic production and subsidies for the production of advanced chips.

Campaigners Urge Australia to Let Ukrainian Refugees Stay Permanently

Australian community leaders are urging the Canberra government to allow displaced Ukrainians to apply to stay permanently in the country. Temporary humanitarian visas for thousands of refugees from the Ukraine war expire next year.

More than 11,000 Ukrainians on various types of Australian visas, including visitors’ permits, have come to Australia since Russia invaded in February 2022.

About 3,790 Ukrainians were granted three-year temporary humanitarian visas under a special Australian government programme from April to July 2022. The humanitarian visas are to expire next year. The government has said displaced Ukrainians with that type of immigration permit might be allowed to stay by applying for the skilled, family, student and visitor visa programs.

Community groups, though, say some displaced Ukrainians might find it hard to qualify for permanent visas because of obstacles such as applicant age limits, lack of recognition of overseas qualifications, and limited English language skills. Some visas require applicants to be younger than 45 and to have relevant experience and qualifications in occupations that are in short supply in Australia, such as accountants, pilots, and engineers.

Andrew Mencinsky, the vice president of the Ukrainian Council of New South Wales, told local media that the future of many visa holders in Australia is uncertain.

UN Chief Assails Israel for Blocking Gaza Aid Trucks

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres assailed Israel on Sunday, contending that “horror and starvation stalk the people of Gaza” and that only Israel can remove the obstacles to getting more aid into the Palestinian enclave.

“Let me be clear. Nothing justifies the abhorrent October 7 Hamas attacks and hostage-taking in Israel,” the UN chief said in a visit to Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials to push for a cease-fire in the six-month Israeli-Hamas war.

“But nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he said.

On a Saturday visit to Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt, Guterres said it was a “moral outrage” that aid is being blocked from being sent into Gaza.

“Here, from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all. A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other,” Guterres said.

He said the only effective and efficient way to deliver heavy goods into Gaza is by road, which includes an exponential increase in commercial deliveries. He said in Egypt, “the daily assault on the human dignity of Palestinians is creating a crisis of credibility for the international community.”

Iran’s Currency Hits Record Low

Iran’s currency fell to a record low on Sunday, plunging to 613,500 to the dollar, as its people celebrated the Persian New Year.

On Sunday, people were trying to exchange rials for foreign currency at Tehran’s main hub of exchange shops on Ferdowsi Street, but most were closed due to the Nowruz holidays, which are run from March 20 to April 2.

The two-week holiday is an opportunity to travel abroad, driving demand for U.S. dollars and Euros.

The exchange rate strongly affects other markets, including housing and rentals.

The price was 590,000 to the dollar on March 18, the last workday before the holiday.

Many Iranians have seen their life savings evaporate as the local currency has depreciated. Today, it’s worth about one-twentieth as much as in 2015 when Iran signed a nuclear accord with world powers.

Since then, it has fallen from 32,000 rials to the dollar to hundreds of thousands. In February 2023, it briefly reached a nadir of 600,000 reals to the dollar and has not risen above 439,000.

Cubans Hungry Amid Economic Crisis

Like millions of other Cubans, María de los Ángeles Pozo thinks back fondly to when a government ration book fed her family everything from hamburgers, fish and milk to chocolate and beer. People would even get cakes for birthdays and weddings.

The “libreta,” as Cubans know it, was launched in July 1963 and became one of the pillars of the island’s socialist system, helping people through crises, including the cutbacks in Soviet aid that led to the 1990s deprivation known as the “Special Period.”

That system is undergoing a deep economic crisis that has prompted the exodus of almost half a million Cubans to the U.S. over the last two years, with thousands more heading to Europe. It also has led to a dramatic reduction in the availability of rationed food for those who do not leave.

Many Cubans feel ill-equipped to handle their new, more unequal country, a feeling that has worsened as small private markets have opened, charging prices similar to international ones in a country that hasn’t allowed non-state commerce in recent decades and where incomes remain between $16 and $23 monthly.