News briefs for today include the United Auto Workers ordered to end Gaza protest; Blinken in Israel to push ceasefire; Venezuelan gangs cross border and spread across U.S.; Conservatives sweep European elections on Sunday.
Venezuelan gang expanding across U.S.
CNN reports that local and federal officials say a flurry of seemingly unrelated crimes have actually been committed by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan transnational criminal gang that orignated in prisons. Hundreds of gang members have crossed the U.S. border since 2021 and set up operations across the U.S. CNN says the gang is responsible for a “human trafficking ring forcing immigrant women into prostitution. The mysterious killing of a former police officer in South Florida. Attacks against police officers in New York,” and drug dealing. Retired general Óscar Naranjo, a former vice president of Colombia and chief of the Colombian National Police, told CNN Tren de Aragua is “the most disruptive criminal organization operating nowadays in Latin America, a true challenge for the region.”
Conservatives sweep European elections
Sunday’s European Union parliamentary elections saw conservative parties make major gains across the continent, dealing an especially humiliating defeat to French President Emmanuel Macron. The shift to the right of the 27-member bloc was most notable in Italy where conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni more than doubled her seats in the EU parliament. The scandal-ridden Alternative for Germany rallied enough votes to sweep past the slumping Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The trouncing of liberal socialists was most prominent in France where Macron immediately dissolved the national parliament and called for new elections. Core issues rallying grass-roots voters behind conservatives include mass immigration and ‘green policy’ attacks on the continent’s consumers and farmers.
Judge orders United Auto Workers to end pro-Gaza strike
A California judge has urged the United Auto Workers union to end its strike against the University of California. University workers, who are represented by the union, have been picketing several campuses against Israel and the system’s response to campus demonstrations. A California judge ordered the University of California academic workers to end their strike after they have been walking picket lines at several campuses in protest of the university system’s response to anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses while carrying pro-Gaza banners. The court ruling came after the leftist Public Employment Relations Board refused to issue an injunction to end the strike. The UAE has been criticized for siding with Hamas and Gaza in Israel’s war and in December voted to form a “divestment” committee to explore punishing Israel.
Blinken on eighth trip to Israel since Hamas attack
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive in Israel on Monday amid the what some call the Biden administration’s bullying tactics to force Israel into a ceasefire. Blinken could get more significant public pushback on this eight trip after Israel freed four hostages from Hamas captivity on Sunday. Israeli media is reporting the rescues would not have been possible if it had accepted the terms of the Biden ceasefire plan. Blinken will first visit Egypt on Monday, and will also stop in Jordan and Qatar during his visit to the region, which will wrap up on Wednesday.
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice and wire services
