40 Percent Error Rate Found In Afghan Refugee Vetting Samples, Inspector General Finds

US Existing Home Sales Bounced In February As Mortgage Rates Tumbled Despite tumbling mortgage rates, existing home sales plunged (the most since COVID) in January, with some blaming 'below-normal temperatures' despite The West suffering the biggest declines (and unaffected by the winter storms). Consensus was for a modest 0.8% MoM decline in February (again despite an ongoing drop in mortgage rates) but sales actually surprised to the upside, rising 1.7% MoM. Perhaps even more notably, January's 8.4% MoM plunge was revised up to a slightly less crazy 5.9% MoM drop... Source: Bloomberg With...

Pentagon Removes Press Offices After Federal Judge Blocks Trump Restrictions The Defense Department has announced plans to remove media offices from the Pentagon after a Clinton-appointed federal judge sided with The New York Times in a lawsuit challenging limits on reporters' access to the building.  The action is seen as a "loophole" strategy to bypass the ruling against restrictions which the Trump Administration has struggled to enforce in the wake of a hailstorm of national security leaks. The press area of the Pentagon, known as "Correspondents' Corridor", has been used for...

Putin's First Ever Visit To Japanese-Claimed Islands Provokes Outrage In Tokyo Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday made a provocative visit to the far-eastern Kuril islands for the first time ever. Japan immediately lodged a "strong" protest given it also has long claimed the territory, resulting in an avalanche of denunciatory headlines in Japanese press. Putin held a meeting there "on ensuring the security of Russia's eastern borders," state RIA Novosti said. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi shot back: "The Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japan's territory both historically and...