1. Supreme Court Justice Nominated

2. President Donald Trump used the ornate East Room of the White House to make good on his promise via television and handed his party a solid conservative nominee for the Supreme Court. He unveiled Judge Neil Gorsuch as his pick to succeed the late conservative icon Antonin Scalia on the nation's highest court. In the same room where so many of his predecessors delivered historic pronouncements to the American people, Trump introduced the nation to the man who, at 49, could spend decades on the court, and help shape his own presidential legacy. It amounted to Trump's biggest moment yet in his 11 days in office. Blanketed by television networks, Trump cut a presidential and statesmanlike figure. The President said he had spent considerable time pouring over the writings and decisions of Gorsuch, a man studied at Columbia, Harvard and Oxford. Gorsuch's nomination, assuming he is confirmed, will continue the ideological balance of the court before Scalia's death, with four conservatives, four liberals and Justice Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote. Known for his writing style, a sense of humor and conservative positions on religious liberty, guns, business regulation and administrative power, Gorsuch may be the perfect candidate to emulate the legal textualism and originalism of Scalia, who died nearly a year ago.

3. In Other News
Fighting in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian armed forces is escalating. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said eight Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the last two days. "Russian occupation forces carried out massive attacks across the contact line using all available weapons, including (artillery, mortars and tanks) -- all prohibited by the Minsk agreements -- and small arms.” The US State Department on Tuesday put out a statement saying, "The United States is deeply concerned with the recent spike in violence in eastern Ukraine.” The Russian Foreign Ministry said Ukrainian troops "continue to conduct offensive operations to seize positions held by self-defense forces. Heavy weapons, including heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, are being actively used to shell residential areas.” The Russian Foreign Ministry warned a humanitarian and environmental disaster could take place. The UN Security Council also condemned the use of weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreement. The Security Council and the US State Department called for each side to honor the ceasefire. Russian troops intervened in Ukraine during a popular revolution, and have remained in the Crimea region since. Putin formally announced the annexation of Crimea on March 18, 2014.
Israel's security forces are beginning the evacuation of an illegal outpost built on private Palestinian-owned land while also ramping up its settlement program elsewhere. The Israeli High Court ordered residents to leave the area last year. Hundreds of members of Israeli security forces are at the site, and are currently blocking access to roads to the settlement to prevent the settlers' supporters from joining efforts to resist the eviction. Around 600 settlers are already protesting and have set fires and strewn the road with rocks, nails and other debris in an attempt to hinder the security forces' passage.