Rubio signs declaration to expedite delivery of $4 billion in military aid to Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday he had signed a declaration to expedite delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.

The Trump administration, which took office on January 20, has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel, Rubio said in a statement, adding that it "will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats."

Rubio said he had used emergency authority to expedite the delivery of military assistance to Israel to its Middle East ally, now in a fragile ceasefire with Hamas militants in their war in Gaza.

The Pentagon said on Friday that the State Department had approved the potential sale of nearly $3 billion worth of bombs, demolition kits and other weaponry to Israel.

The administration notified Congress of those prospective weapons sales on an emergency basis, sidestepping a long-standing practice of giving the chairs and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees the opportunity to review the sale and ask for more information before making a formal notification to Congress.

Friday's announcements marked the second time in recent weeks that President Donald Trump's administration has declared an emergency to quickly approve weapons sales to Israel. The Biden administration also used emergency authority to approve the sale of arms to Israel without congressional review.

On Monday, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era order requiring it to report potential violations of international law involving U.S.-supplied weapons by allies, including Israel. It has also eliminated most U.S. humanitarian foreign aid.

The January 19 Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement halted 15 months of fighting and paved the way for talks on ending the war, while leading to the release of 44 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel.

Hours after the first phase of the agreed ceasefire was set to expire, Israel said early on Sunday it would adopt a proposal by Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramadan and Passover periods.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, casting doubt over the second phase of the deal meant to include releases of additional hostages and prisoners as well as steps toward a permanent end of the war.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/rubio-signs-declaration-expedite-delivery-014129783.html

Gun Owners Take DC Magazine Restrictions To Supreme Court

 by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

Gun owners in the nation’s capital are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the District of Columbia’s ban on magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

The petition in Hanson v. District of Columbia was docketed, or officially accepted for filing, by the court on Feb. 28. The respondent, the District of Columbia, was directed to file a response by March 31.

The district enacted the Firearms Registration Amendment Act of 2008 after the Supreme Court invalidated the city’s sweeping restrictions on gun ownership in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). In Heller, the nation’s highest court determined that individuals have a right to possess firearms for lawful purposes, including self-defense at home.

The statute made it a felony-level offense to have a magazine that could hold more than 10 rounds. A violation can result in a prison term of three years and a fine of $12,500. District officials say the law is needed to protect the public.

Lead petitioner Andrew Hanson and co-petitioners Tyler Yzaguirre, Nathan Chaney, and Eric Klun, who all have concealed carry pistol licenses in the District of Columbia, possessed magazines holding more than 10 rounds outside D.C. and said they would use their magazines for lawful purposes in the district if the 10-round limit did not apply.

Hanson argues in the petition that the district’s magazine cap is unconstitutional according to a test the Supreme Court articulated in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), which recognized a right to bear arms in public for self-defense.

Weeks after Bruen was decided, the petitioners sued the District of Columbia, asking for a declaration from a federal district court that the magazine cap ran afoul of the Second and Fifth Amendments.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras issued an April 2023 decision that denied Hanson’s request to block the law on constitutional grounds. Contreras found that the local law adheres to the U.S. Constitution.

The judge found that the District’s ammo limitation, which was aimed at promoting public safety, was justified. The ban constituted “an attempt to mitigate the carnage of mass shootings in this country.”

“Just as states and the District enacted sweeping laws restricting possession of high-capacity weapons in an attempt to reduce violence during the Prohibition era, so can the District now,” Contreras said.

Hanson appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which on Oct. 29, 2024, voted 2-1 to deny a request for a preliminary injunction against the statute.

“For 15 years, District law enforcement has operated and been resourced with the magazine cap in place,” and an “‘erroneously issued’ preliminary injunction suspending its law could drastically compromise the District’s ability to enforce its magazine cap far into the future” and allow the district to be inundated with large-capacity magazines during the life of the injunction, the court said.

Circuit Judge Justin Walker dissented.

In Heller, Walker said, the Supreme Court determined “that the government cannot categorically ban an arm in common use for lawful purposes.”

“Magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition are arms in common use for lawful purposes. Therefore, the government cannot ban them,” Walker wrote.

The Supreme Court should take up the case because the D.C. Circuit Court’s ruling is inconsistent with Heller, which “protects the possession and use of weapons that are ‘in common use at the time,’” according to the petition.

Even though the panel acknowledged that magazines containing 10 or more rounds are “in common use,” it found they were “particularly dangerous” and compared them to fully automatic machine guns.

The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to consider if the Second Amendment “allows a categorical ban on arms that are indisputably common throughout the United States and overwhelmingly used for lawful purposes (generally) and self-defense (specifically).”

Petitioner Yzaguirre, who is president of the Second Amendment Institute, said he’s optimistic about the petition’s prospects.

“It’s time for the Supreme Court to take its next landmark Second Amendment case,” he told The Epoch Times.

“The days of tyrannical elites restricting ‘We the People’ from exercising our God-given rights to self-defense must come to an end,” Yzaguirre said.

The Epoch Times reached out for comment to District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb. No reply was received by publication time.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/gun-owners-take-dc-magazine-restrictions-supreme-court

Bessent reveals Zelensky nixed Trump’s mineral deal twice prior to Oval Office blowup

 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already twice refused to sign a minerals deal with the United States.

“This has to be one of the greatest diplomatic mishaps of all time by President Zelensky,” Bessent said in an interview Friday with Laura Ingraham, host of Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”

Bessent explained that Zelensky told him during a meeting in Kyiv that he would not sign a mineral deal, which would exchange billions of dollars in US aid funding for rare earths and other resources from Ukraine. Zelensky also refused to close the deal with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Bessent stated.

On Friday, Trump and Vance reprimanded Zelensky in full view of reporters, with cameras rolling. The tense exchange led to a canceled meeting between Zelensky and Trump.

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“It was supposed to be a great day and this is one of the biggest own goals in diplomatic history,” Bessent said, referencing a soccer term about scoring against your own team.

“Today, I was shocked that he would behave like this on camera in front of the world,” he added.

On the social media site X, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. posted, “Zelensky could have signed the deal five days earlier but wanted to come to the White House. He’d been difficult for two weeks. Yet he wanted the White House meeting. Trump was upbeat about it even just the day before publicly and privately the day of. Although he could have reset the whole thing, Zelensky was antagonistic and over the top.”

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Bessent explained that Zelensky told him during a meeting in Kyiv that he would not sign a mineral deal.Fox News

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Zelensky also refused to close the deal with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Bessent stated.REUTERS

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The tense exchange led to a canceled meeting between Zelensky and Trump.Getty Images

Schmitt concluded, “He had a one foot putt but was more interested in litigating issues that should be discussed behind closed doors (and have been) in public.”

Trump posted to his Truth Social account shortly after the meeting that Zelensky was “not ready for Peace.”

“We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today,” Trump wrote. “Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.” 

“Thank you, America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,” Zelensky posted to X on Friday afternoon. “Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.” 

https://nypost.com/2025/03/01/us-news/zelensky-nixed-trumps-mineral-deal-twice-prior-to-blowup/