TYB
Happening Now: Alina Habba Sworn In As US Attorney For New Jersey
March 28, 2027
Alina Habba, a staunch ally of President Trump, is set to be sworn in Friday afternoon to serve as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, a day after Trump tapped her to serve in the role.
A native of the Garden State, Habba represented the president in high-stakes New York civil trials, including the business fraud case where he was ordered to pay $454 million for falsely inflating his net worth, and the defamation and sexual assault lawsuits brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who won nearly $100 million at two jury trials.
“Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey,” Trump wrote Monday in a post on Truth Social.
The event at the White House is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EDT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wunjfg7p2XY
Senate confirms former VA benefits chief as new deputy secretary
Mar 27, 2025, 11:49 AM
Senate lawmakers confirmed Paul Lawrence as the next Veterans Affairs deputy secretary Thursday, putting in place another key leader at the department as administration officials plan massive reforms for the bureaucracy.
Lawrence, who previously served as VA’s under secretary for benefits during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, was approved along party lines by a 51-45 vote.
He is expected to be sworn into the No. 2 leadership post at the department in the next few days.
During his confirmation hearing last month, Lawrence faced opposition from Democratic lawmakers, not because of his qualifications, but because of concerns about Trump’s reform plans for VA.
Those plans include a proposal to slash the VA workforce by more than 80,000 workers, bringing staffing back to 2019 levels.
But Democratic votes were not needed in the Republican-majority chamber for Lawrence to be confirmed to the department leadership post.
The vote makes him essentially the chief operating officer for the department, where he’ll be handling a variety of issues, including the ongoing electronic health records overhaul.
During his confirmation hearing, Lawrence vowed to continue implementation of the PACT Act — a 2022 law dramatically expanding veterans benefits eligibility for military toxic exposure injuries — and work for ways to offer more medical care options to veterans.
He also denied accusations that Trump administration officials were working to massively shift veterans funding from federal medical centers to private-sector clinics.
“We are not going to privatize VA,” he said. “We would push back on any efforts to do that.”
Lawrence is an Army veteran who has written several books on management and government.
In an interview with Military Times last month, VA Secretary Doug Collins said that Lawrence’s confirmation needed to be completed before the department could move ahead on two other key leadership posts: the under secretary for health and the under secretary for benefits.
Both posts require a special panel review of potential candidates before a nominee can be announced. Lawrence, who previously served in the benefits role, will help with the administration of that work.
During Trump’s first term in office, the department did not have a confirmed leader of the Veterans Health Administration because of complications with that nomination process.
Trump has already tapped former Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown to serve as the head of cemetery and memorial affairs for the department, the last of VA’s top five leadership posts.
https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2025/03/27/senate-confirms-former-va-benefits-chief-as-new-deputy-secretary/
Drone Headed to Smith State Prison Crashes into Glennville Home, Causing Fire
March 28, 2025
A drone strapped with contraband headed to Smith State Prison in Glennville, Georgia crashed into a home this week.
TheGeorgiaVirtue filed an Open Records Request with the Glennville Police Department, seeking documents related to the incident.
Those documents revealed that a patrol officer working responded to the scene following a request from fire department personnel.
Lieutenant Boyd with the Glennville Police Department responded to South Herrington Street on March 25 in response to the request.
The report states the incident occurred after 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening. When he arrived on scene, Boyd saw a home which he described as ‘visibly damaged by fire.’
From the report:
Lt. Boyd approached the scene and was shown a large object that was laying at the base of the house which appeared to have been the cause of the fire.
Upon closer inspection, Lt. Boyd found that the item appeared to be a drone (typically seen attempting to introduce contraband into Smith State Prison).
Lt. Boyd used his flashlight and looked closer to discover that there was loose tobacco, marijuana, and a cell phone that were sitting next to the drone which confirmed the thought that the drone was attempting to introduce contraband into Smith State Prison.
It appeared that it must have come from south east of the house near the auburn road area of Tattnall County.
Lt. Boyd contacted the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) over the investigators of the Georgia Department of Corrections.
The SAC informed Lt. Boyd that she would have an investigator come to the scene and collect all of the evidence to attempt to get any information from it that may identify the person(s) that were flying the drone.
Approximately an hour later, Special Agent Octavius Merricks arrived on scene. Agent Merricks collected all of the evidence and secured it in his state vehicle.
As of publishing, no arrests had been made.
Despite the Georgia Department of Corrections’ going struggle to secure its facilities, the state agency is largely immune from any civil suits brought forth by Georgians who are adversely impacted by the state prison system.
https://www.thegeorgiavirtue.com/local-news-south-georgia/drone-headed-to-smith-state-prison-crashes-into-glennville-home-causing-fire/
Police search wood with drone to identify and arrest man after indecent exposure
Fri 28 March 2025 at 6:18 am GMT-7
Police have been searching a wood with a drone to identify and arrest a man following an indecent exposure.
The incident occurred when a dog walker in her 60 was walking her dog in Radley Wood, near Abingdon, at about 4.30pm on Friday, March 21.
She was approached by a man who exposed himself and touched himself inappropriately.
In an attempt to identify and arrest the male, officers from the Abingdon neighbourhood policing team have been out in the area this week, searching through the woods and following up on enquiries.
The team said they have been working in partnership with the TVP Rural Crime Taskforce task force, who attended with a drone, plus officers from Incident Crime Response.
A spokesperson said: "If a crime of this nature is in progress and/or the suspect is still in the vicinity, then please call 999. We take all reports like this extremely seriously.
"Our patrols are continuing over the coming days and the investigation is ongoing."
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/police-search-wood-drone-identify-131835592.html
110-lb cargo: Engineers develop electric drone to deliver fresh fruits, medicines
Mar 28, 2025 08:13 AM EST
There’s a lot of growing interest in exploring the feasibility of using drones to transport vital supplies to remote areas instead of relying on trucks.
The success of this effort requires a robust drone system that can travel large distances.
Now, University of New South Wales (UNSW) engineers are spearheading the development of an all-electric powertrain for a revolutionary cargo drone.
This will be used to service the challenging logistics of remote rural Australia.
The project — led by Seaflight Technologies and Macquarie University with an Australian consortium — aims to transform remote logistics.
“You can start talking about resupplying a community with medical supplies or fresh fruit and vegetables that otherwise would have come from the other side of the country in a diesel-spewing truck,” said Graham Doig, Seaflight’s founder and Executive Technical Fellow.
“We’re taking that off the road, and we’re replacing it with near-zero emissions technology that can provide people with goods that they need the next day,” Doig added.
Prototype testing in late 2025
Priestley is heading the development of an all-electric drone powertrain, focusing on integrating and testing all power generation and delivery components for drone propulsion.
This advanced powertrain will energize the AURA-E, a sizable fixed-wing drone intended for long-range, heavy cargo transport. The drone is currently under development.
The AURA-E drone will be combined with a novel active aerodynamic flow control system. This innovative combination aims to increase the aircraft’s operational range and payload capacity.
The drone’s aerodynamic system improves its flight by controlling airflow, reducing resistance (drag), and increasing upward force (lift), which results in longer flight distances and the ability to carry more weight.
The project’s initial drone prototype aims to carry 88- 110 pounds (40-50 kg ) over hundreds of kilometers, but the team’s long-term goal is to develop a larger drone capable of transporting 440-660 pounds (200-300 kg).
The first flight of the AURA-E, targeted for late 2025, will involve UNSW students in the roles of flight testers and remote pilots.
Enhancing agriculture, mining industries
The team notes that developing local drone technology capabilities is vital for Australia’s national security.
This is due to drones’ importance in key industries like mining and agriculture and their potential use in surveillance operations.
“It’s important we get security right with these types of drones in the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) sector, because otherwise we risk hacking.
Drone security is crucial to manage public perceptions and acceptance of a technology that has the capacity to spy on you,” said Priestley in the press release.
Doig highlights that drones are transforming the aviation industry. In the future, there could be high-volume drone operations akin to a “mini airline.”
“If you imagine drones as being almost like a mini airline, you could have hundreds or even thousands of flights per day, and you have to understand every aspect that goes into running this mini airline,” added Doig, who is also a senior lecturer at UNSW’s School of Aviation.
This would require a new generation of aviation professionals with entrepreneurial skills.
The AURA-E drone project received $1.5 million in funding from the Australian Federal Government’s Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships (EATP), representing half of its total $3 million budget.
https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/all-electric-drones-to-replace-trucks
IDF says it struck Hezbollah drone storage facility in Beirut
March 28, 3:04 pm
The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah drone storage facility a short while ago in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
The facility used to store the drones belonged to Hezbollah’s aerial forces, known as Unit 127, the military says. The unit is responsible for explosive-laden drone attacks on Israel and flying surveillance drones to collect intelligence.
“Hezbollah has placed its terror infrastructure in the heart of the civilian population. This is another example of the Hezbollah terror organization’s cynical use of Lebanese citizens as human shields,” an IDF statement says.
The IDF issued an evacuation warning for the building before the strike and also reportedly carried out several warning shots in the area before dropping larger munitions.
The strike comes in response to this morning’s rocket fire from Lebanon on northern Israel, which the military says is a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-it-struck-hezbollah-drone-storage-facility-in-beirut/
https://twitter.com/nbntweets/status/1905587548845486251
IDF, police say they thwarted attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Egypt by drone
March 28, 10:39 am
The IDF and police say they foiled an attempt to smuggle nine assault rifles into Israel from Egypt last night, using a drone.
The drone had been identified crossing the border into Israel before it was downed by troops and police officers deployed to the area.
The drone and guns were handed over to the police for further investigation.
Earlier in the day yesterday, IDF troops caught another drone ferrying 10 kilograms of drugs.
In recent months, there have been frequent attempts to bring weapons and drugs over the Egyptian border using drones.
There have also been attempts to smuggle similar contraband from Israel into Gaza using drones.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-police-say-they-thwarted-attempt-to-smuggle-weapons-into-israel-from-egypt-by-drone/
https://twitter.com/idfonline/status/1905523607469498794
Russian Army Accuses Ukraine of Attacking Sudzha Gas Metering Station
March 28, 2025
Russia's Defense Ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of firing rockets and more than a dozen drones at its energy infrastructure, violating a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between the two warring sides.
"Over the past 24 hours, the Kyiv regime continued its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure using various types of drones and HIMARS multiple rocket launchers," the military said in a morning statement.
It claimed that Ukraine launched rockets at the Sudzha gas metering station in the southwestern Kursk region, already damaged in an earlier attack, as well as 19 drones at an oil refinery in the southern Saratov region.
President Vladimir Putin said he ordered a 30-day halt on strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure starting March 18, coming after a call with U.S. President Donald Trump.
However, Ukraine did not immediately agree to the ceasefire, and monitoring remains unclear as Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of violating the agreement.
The White House had said Tuesday that both Russia and Ukraine agreed separately to "develop measures for implementing" a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure.
On Friday, Ukraine denied claims that its forces fired on the gas metering station Sudzha and accused Russia's military of striking the facility.
"Russia has again attacked the Sudzha gas transmission system in the Kursk region, which they do not control," Andriy Kovalenko, an official who is responsible for countering disinformation, said on social media.
Ukraine says Russia has repeatedly broken its own commitment not to strike Ukrainian energy infrastructure and has called for the United States to react to the reported ceasefire violations.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/03/28/russian-army-accuses-ukraine-of-attacking-sudzha-gas-metering-station-a88520
Drones attack Engels airbase where Russia stores missiles, ammunition – CCD
28.03.2025 08:53
Engels, a city in Russia's Saratov region, was attacked by drones, according to Andrii Kovalеnko, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
He said this in a post on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.
"Engels, where the enemy continues to store missiles and ammunition for attacks on Ukraine, encountered unknown drones," Kovalenko said.
Ukrinform reported earlier that as a result of the March 20 strike on the Engels-2 airbase of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the enemy lost 96 cruise missiles that had been stockpiled for three missile strikes on Ukraine.
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3975724-drones-attack-engels-airbase-where-russia-stores-missiles-ammunition-ccd.html
https://t.me/akovalenko1989/9037
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump wants more of Kyiv’s rare minerals – but US rejects Putin call to oust Zelensky
Friday 28 March 2025 18:12 GMT
The White House has rejected Vladimir Putin’s suggestion for a temporary administration in Kyiv, while also seeking sweeping access to Ukraine’s minerals and energy commodities.
The Russian President said Volodymyr Zelensky’s government must be replaced to pave the way for a peace accord during a visit to a Russian nuclear submarine base on Thursday, before Moscow launched a drone assault on Ukraine overnight.
A White House national security council spokesperson snubbed the Kremlin leader’s demand and said the governance in Ukraine is determined by its constitution and the people of the country.
The Trump administration is also pushing for a major new resources deal with Kyiv that would give the US control over all of Ukraine’s energy assets and rare minerals.
Yesterday, the Ukrainian president said the US is constantly changing the terms of a key minerals agreement as part of peace deal.
Earlier, Emmanuel Macron announced that a British-French military delegation will be sent to Ukraine to scout Kyiv’s needs and what can be done to support its army – and that troops would be deployed as a “reassurance force” to uphold any potential peace deal agreed with Russia.
cont.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-live-map-trump-putin-ceasefire-minerals-deal-b2723113.html
Counter-drone testing interfered with commercial flights at Reagan National
27 March 2025
Counter-drone testing performed by the Secret Service and US Navy reportedly triggered faulty traffic warnings for commercial aircraft on approach to Washington, DC’s Ronald Reagan National airport, congressional testimony revealed on 27 March.
During an aviation safety hearing on Capitol Hill following the 29 January mid-air collision between a commercial jet and military helicopter at the same airport, Republican senator Ted Cruz, chair of the commerce, science and transportation committee, said it was “very disturbing” that a testing programme had interfered with passenger flights at Reagan National on 1 March.
Cruz describes multiple reports of airline pilots receiving warnings from their traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) on approach to the airport.
The warnings “advised pilots of an impending threat from above, in some case directing the crews to take evasive action by descending”, he says.
“I think we were all alarmed that, just a few weeks after the tragedy, commercial pilots were being told that they were at imminent risk of a deadly mid-air collision.”
Cruz asserts that the Secret Service and the US Navy had been ”improperly testing counter-drone technology” at Reagan National on the day of the incidents.
“Apparently, the navy was using the same spectrum band as TCAS, causing the interference and faulty resolution advisories – even though the FAA had previously warned the navy and the Secret Service against using that specific spectrum band due to interference risks,” Cruz says.
Cruz asked Chris Rocheleau, sitting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, whether that account of the 1 March incidents at Reagan National was accurate.
Rocheleau responded, “Yes, sir, that is correct.”
“It is deeply disturbing that just a month after 67 people died” that such testing had been allowed to occur, Cruz says. “I expect this committee to investigate precisely why that happened.”
The exchange occurred during a hearing on the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the 29 January accident involving a US Army Blackhawk helicopter colliding with a PSA Airlines MHIRJ CRJ700.
Both aircraft plunged into the ice-covered Potomac River, killing all crew and passengers. The accident has rocked the airline industry and prompted several operational changes at Reagan National.
After publishing a preliminary report on the accident earlier this month, the NTSB says its investigation is ongoing and has yet to determine a probable cause.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy testified on 27 March that a team of 40 accident investigators are seeking to finalise their report within one year, “barring unforeseen circumstances”.
https://www.flightglobal.com/safety/counter-drone-testing-interfered-with-commercial-flights-at-reagan-national/162384.article
Officers on the frontline or GTFO!
Drone experiment reveals how Greenland ice sheet is changing
March 27, 2025
For the first time, researchers have collected detailed measurements of water vapor high above the surface of the Greenland ice sheet.
Their research, aided by a custom-designed drone, could help scientists improve ice loss calculations in rapidly warming polar regions.
"We will be able to understand how water moves in and out of Greenland in the next few years," said first author Kevin Rozmiarek, a doctoral student at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at CU Boulder.
"As a major freshwater reservoir, we need to understand how Greenland's environment is going to change in the future."
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Greenland lost about 55 gigatons of ice and snow between fall 2023 and fall 2024.
The island is shedding ice for the 28th year in a row, and scientists estimate that it has lost more than 5 trillion tons of ice since 1992.
The Greenland ice sheet contains about 8% of the planet's freshwater, and its meltwater could contribute significantly to rising sea levels, changing ocean circulation and ecosystems worldwide.
The majority of ice loss comes from large ice chunks breaking off from glaciers and the melting of surface ice and snow.
Sublimation, the process of solids turning into gases without turning into liquids first, may also play a role.
Prior studies have suggested that in some parts of Greenland, about 30% of summer surface snow could sublimate to water vapor.
Tracking water in the sky
It is unclear where the water vapor goes, said Rozmiarek. Some might fall back down as snow or recondense on the surface later, but some could leave Greenland's water system entirely.
Collecting air samples in the Arctic is an expensive and technically challenging task, because it traditionally involves flying a plane to the middle of an ice sheet in harsh weather and carrying air samples back to the laboratory.
Rozmiarek and his team overcame the challenges by loading air sampling equipment on a large drone with a 10-foot wingspan.
Throughout the summer of 2022, the team flew the drone 104 times from the East Greenland Ice-Core Project camp—managed by the University of Copenhagen—in the island's interior.
The drone collected air samples at different heights of up to nearly 5,000 feet above the ground.
The team aimed to look into the type of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the air's water vapor. Water molecules from different sources contain distinct combinations of hydrogen and oxygen. Scientists call these variations in isotopes.
"Isotopes are water's fingerprints. By following these fingerprints, we can trace back to the source where the water vapor came from," Rozmiarek said.
Scientists have collected high-quality data on the source of water in Greenland, including water that flows from the tropics, and the sink, which is the surface snow on the Greenland ice sheet.
"But we don't know much about the isotopic composition of water in motion, which is the vapor between the source and sink," he added.
When the team compared their drone-based measurements with an existing computer simulation that models the Arctic water cycle, they found the simulation underestimated the amount of precipitation that fell on Greenland.
By incorporating the isotopic data observed in the simulation, the model rendered an accurate prediction of how water moves over Greenland.
"It's really important to be able to predict what's going to happen to Greenland in the warming world as accurately as possible," Rozmiarek said.
"We demonstrated how useful water vapor isotope data is by successfully improving an existing model."
About 125,000 years ago, when Earth was warmer than preindustrial levels, Greenland was covered by a significantly smaller ice sheet, and the sea level was as much as 19 feet higher than today.
As the planet continues to warm, the Greenland ice sheet could see dramatic changes and even shrink to its size back then, Rozmiarek said.
The Greenland ice sheet contains a massive amount of freshwater, and that water, if it leaves the system, could lead to significant increases in global sea level.
The United Nations estimates that rising sea levels caused by climate change currently impact 1 billion people worldwide.
Rozmiarek hopes to return to Greenland and other parts of the Arctic to conduct more flights and gather additional data. "It's like we just figured out how to discover fingerprints at a crime scene.
This is a concrete step forward in understanding where water is going and where it is coming from in this important system at a time when we need it most," he said.
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-drone-reveals-greenland-ice-sheet.html
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JD042719
Matt Laslo / AskaPol
SCIF Watch: Grusch, Elizondo, Mellon & AARO "confirmed for some time in April," Luna says
March 27, 2025
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) — Chair, Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets
Ask a Pol asks:
Now that Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) has hired UFO whistleblower David Grusch on staff, are you still trying to get him into a SCIF with Lue Elizondo and AARO (aka, the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office)?
Key Luna:
“Yes. We got that confirmed for some time in April,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “And Christopher Mellon!”
Caught our ear:
“We're working all avenues,” Luna tells us.
https://www.askapoluaps.com/p/grusch-elizondo-mellon-aaro-walk-into-a-scif
Rep. Burlison: “Hiring Grusch gives us the precision to do a rifle shot at" UAPs
March 27, 2025
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) — Task Force on Declassification of Federal Secrets
Ask a Pol asks:
Have you officially on-boarded your new staffer UFO whistleblower David Grusch?
Key Burlison:
“He starts April 1,” Rep. Eric Burlison exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “He’s filling out the paperwork. You'll have to check all the same boxes that every other employee does.”
Do you know about his clearance? “We are working on that. That was, in fact, one of my first actions.
As soon as he signed and we agreed, I signed a document to request that his clearance be restored,” Burlison says.
“I think we sent it to someone at the Pentagon.”
Burlison’s bracing for roadblocks ahead…
“We'll see how much this town comes out and puts out all the stops,” Burlison says.
You're waiting for it?
“Right, and if it does then there'll be no questioning the fact that they're trying to hide this information,” Burlison says.
“Hiring Grusch gives us the precision to do a rifle shot at this topic and try to get us the answers quick, and I like the fact that we do have this on a timeline of a four-month period.”
Caught our ear:
“When Grusch comes in we'll put together a plan, and if that plan includes doing a field hearing, then yeah,” Burlison says. “That's one of the things that we might talk about.”
https://www.askapoluaps.com/p/burlison-says-grusch-gives-uap-caucus-precision
https://truthsocial.com/@MattLaslo