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Hello! I’m AllSides Managing Editor Henry A. Brechter. It’s Monday, March 13, 2023. Here’s your AllSides balanced briefing for today.

 

TOP STORIES FOR MARCH 13

See news from left-, center-, and right-rated sources with our Headline Roundups and Balanced Web Search results on these stories:

  • FINANCE: Silicon Valley Bank, the biggest U.S. bank to fail since 2008, will not get a federal bailout, said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Her department is more "concerned about depositors and are focused on trying to meet their needs." President Biden said the "banking system is safe" in a speech Monday morning. 

  • TRANSPARENCY: The House of Representatives voted unanimously to declassify intel on COVID-19's origins. A recent classified report from the Energy Department revived debate over the pandemic's genesis.

  • MIDDLE EAST: Seven years after they cut diplomatic ties, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to resume relations following negotiations mediated by China.

  • ENTERTAINMENT: "Everything Everywhere All at Once" dominated the 2023 Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, and three acting accolades.

 

FENTANYL BLAME GAME

As synthetic opioids like fentanyl continue to drive higher overdose deaths in the U.S. each year, some are calling for crackdowns on the illegal drug trade and cartels in Mexico.

After four Americans were kidnapped and two were killed by a cartel in Mexico last week, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced a bill to designate Mexican drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations," which would give federal authorities more grounds and tools to combat them. 

But in Mexico, "we do not produce fentanyl, and we do not have consumption of fentanyl," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said. "Why don’t they (the United States) take care of their problem of social decay?"

Previously, Mexico's government has acknowledged that cartels make fentanyl in Mexico, and the Associated Press (Lean Left bias) says that "almost all the fentanyl consumed in the U.S. is produced and processed in Mexico." Last year, the Drug Enforcement Agency said it seized enough fentanyl to kill everyone in the U.S.

See more with our balanced Headline Roundup.

 

MISINFORMATION ON BIDEN'S BUDGET PLAN

Biden's new $6.8 trillion budget plan has very little change of becoming law due to opposition from Republicans in Congress.

But that didn't stop media outlets from spreading misinformation on what the plan will and won't do.

The AP said "Biden’s budget would reduce the debt." The Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) said the plan "would see the debt at 110% in 2033, versus roughly 100% today."

Both reports spun data-based estimates to portray misleading conclusions. Read more on our Misinformation Watch blog.

 

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK

See articles from left-, center-, and right-rated sources with our Balanced Web Search results on these stories:

  • The House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing Wednesday on "Examining Secretary Mayorkas’ Border Crisis."

 

TODAY'S WEATHER

See today’s weather radar and temperature maps for your area from the NOAA.

 

GOOD NEWS

At hospitals in Hungary, a U.K.-based company is testing how artificial intelligence may be able to detect signs of breast cancer missed by doctors, with reportedly "impressive" early results.

 

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Henry A. Brechter is the Managing Editor of AllSides. He has a Center bias.