The World Web Times - worldwebtimes.com

Haiti has not had a national election since 2016, and there is currently no parliament or president  News-shield

Haiti has not had a national election since 2016, and there is currently no parliament or president  pdclarion.com

Raid in Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod oblasts may last until sham presidential ‘elections’ – Russian Freedom Legion  Yahoo News Canada

Russian rebels reportedly used Ukrainian-made drones to strike FSB site in Belgorod – NV source  Yahoo News Canada

On Good Friday, Catholics urged to support Middle East Christians  Chicago Catholic

Pope Francis: Virtue Enables Us to Have ‘a Tendency Towards the Right Choice’  National Catholic Register

Pro-Israel Americans need to send Biden a message  JNS.org

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Washington — A polio survivor known as the “man in the iron lung” has died aged 78, according to his family and a fundraising website.

Paul Alexander of Dallas, Texas contracted polio at the age of six, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down and reliant on a mechanical respirator to breathe for much of the time.

Though often confined to his submarine-like cylinder, he excelled in his studies, earned a law degree, worked in the legal field and wrote a book.

“With a heavy heart I need to say my brother passed last night,” Philip Alexander posted on Facebook early Wednesday. “It was an honor to be part of someone’s life who was as admired as he was.”

Christopher Ulmer, a disability advocate running a fundraiser for Alexander, also confirmed his death in a GoFundMe update posted on Tuesday.

“His story traveled wide and far, positively influencing people around the world. Paul was an incredible role model that will continue to be remembered,” said Ulmer.

A prior update on Alexander’s official TikTok account said he had been rushed to the emergency room after contracting Covid-19.

Iron lungs are sealed chambers fitted with pumps. Raising and lowering the pressure inside the chamber expands and contracts the patient’s lungs.

Invented in the 1920s, their use fell away after the invention of the polio vaccine by Jonas Salk, which became widely available in 1955 and helped consign the devastating paralytic illness to history.

Alexander held the official Guinness World Record for time spent in a lung.

According to his Guinness page, he was able to leave the device for periods of time after he learned to “frog breathe” with the help of a physical therapist.

This involved “using his throat muscles to force air into his lungs, gulping down air one mouthful at a time.” Eventually, he only returned to his iron lung at night to sleep.

As a practicing lawyer, he was able to represent clients in court in a special wheelchair that held his paralyzed body upright.

Seventy-five-year-old Martha Lillard of Shawnee, Oklahoma is reportedly the last surviving person in an iron lung. 

(NewsNation) — Attorneys general from 26 states are urging Congress to swiftly pass the “Laken Riley Act,” which requires the arrest of anyone in the country illegally for any larceny, burglary or shoplifting offense.

After 22-year-old Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was killed late last month while on a morning run, Republicans rushed the “Laken Riley Act” to the House floor to coincide with President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address. It passed in the U.S. House of Representatives with a bipartisan vote of 251-170 on Thursday.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the attorneys general argue, “President Biden’s repeated actions of ignoring the rule of law and abandoning successful policies have created a border crisis of historic proportions.”

They added, “As attorneys general, we are fighting to preserve the rule of law and keep our states safe when the federal government fails to act, or in the case of illegal immigration, actively makes it worse. To that end, we applaud the bill’s enforcement provision for State Attorneys General.”

Authorities arrested Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally, on murder and assault charges in connection with Riley’s death.

Riley’s death has become a rallying point for Republicans, as Ibarra was allowed to stay in the U.S. to pursue his immigration case despite being previously arrested by New York police in August.

“We believe the Laken Riley Act is a strong bill that can act as another arrow in the quiver when it comes to combatting illegal immigration and protecting Americans. Please advance this bill to a vote as soon as possible. Laken Riley should still be alive. Let her memory be used to protect others before it’s too late,” the attorneys general wrote in the letter.

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said Ibarra was arrested by New York police in August and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation. Ibarra was released before ICE could ask New York officials to hold him until immigration authorities could take him into custody, ICE said. New York officials have said they have no record of the arrest.

The legislation would also allow states to sue the federal government for crimes committed by immigrants who enter the country illegally. It was part of a broader push by Republicans to deride immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally and tie them to violent crimes.