Kidnapping Is Not A 'Violent Felony': Appeals Court Voids Two More Whitmer Plot Convictions

US Warns Ally Oman That It Better Pick The 'Right' Side In Hormuz Standoff The saga of rare Washington pressure on its longtime regional ally Oman continues, with on Tuesday The Wall Street Journal reporting that US officials are growing "increasingly frustrated" with Muscat's neutral stance, which they now view as hostile to US interests. Oman has stood accused of cooperating with Iran on a proposed toll collection scheme which would benefit Tehran and circumvent America's aims for the region. Via container-news "In recent days, the Trump administration has threatened to sanction and even bomb Oman,...

Minnesota Might Hand Republicans A Senate Upset Nobody Predicted Democrats entered this year's midterms aiming to flip Senate seats in Maine, North Carolina, Alaska, and Ohio, and hold Georgia and Michigan. With the national mood really riding against the GOP, they see opportunities in Texas and Iowa as well. But things appear to be changing. That Democrats plan to flip the Senate assumed they wouldn't lose any seats they currently hold. Michigan is potentially winnable for the GOP after Democrats in the state nominated Abdul El-Sayed, but now another reliably...

Qatar Tried Secret Deal-Making With Iran To Protect World's Largest Gas Complex By the middle of March during Trump's Operation Epic Fury, Iran was flexing its retaliatory might, and the Gulf region was shocked to see the largest natural-gas production facility in the world, Qatar's North Field, badly damaged - with a key section forced offline and severely damaged. The Washington Post has just provided some new information which has come to light, writing that "There was an additional, hidden consequence. The strike also dashed secret efforts by Qatar to keep...